The mandate of CPLR §5031(b) that all damages in wrongful death actions based on medical malpractice shall be paid in a lump sum was one of the most significant changes to the prior law accomplished by the revisions to CPLR Article 50-A in 2003. Previously, future damages in excess of $250,000 in medical malpractice wrongful death actions, as in all actions subject to Articles 50-A and 50-B, were paid out in periodic installments over the time period determined by the jury.
Seemingly, the statutory directive that all wrongful death damages shall be paid in a lump sum should signal a return to the “old law” practice, prior to the enactment of Articles 50-A (1985) and 50-B (1986), whereby the jury typically reduced future damages to present value, based on expert economic testimony as to the applicable discount rate. The discounted future award was then paid in a lump sum together with past damages and the interest required by EPTL §5-4.3(a).
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